Description

Loop – D – Loopfor solo trombone and Loop Station

by James M. Stephenson

Program notes:

In the spring of 2017, I was invited to Vanderbilt University for a premiere of my recently composed “CrossFit” – for trombone quartet and percussion quartet. It was there that I met the trombone professor at the Blair School of Music, Jeremy Wilson, and where we subsequently began to talk about a new piece for solo trombone and loop station.

Full disclosure: I did not know what a “Loop Station” was when he first proposed the idea, but as a composer always up for new challenges, I reviewed his examples and decided it would be a fun project to do.

The result: Loop – D – Loop.

Loop – D – Loop is, of course, a play on words, but does refer to the fact that the entire piece revolves mostly around a D. My main goal in this piece was to create something that would be a “piece of music”, and not just a technological experiment. I wanted Jeremy to get a chance to show his personality, phrasing, and to make music, and feel like it is something worth playing at a musical level. The looping material is all built around that idea, to hopefully create something with form, shape, novelty, but also with worth.

It is roughly 10 minutes of music, with lyrical qualities and technical showcasing; music meant to challenge but not overwhelm the solosit, with some non-trombone sounds added in for good measure!